1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to valve actuating hand tools, more specifically, to hand tools for deflating and inflating air bags.
2. Background Information
In freight trailers, air bags are often utilized for stabilizing and protecting fragile loads, such as glass and the like. When used, at least one air bag is positioned at the rear of the trailer and must be removed prior to unloading the trailer. The customary method for removing an air bag is to deflate the air bag by slashing it and disposing of the air bag. This has been found to be particularly costly due to both the replacement cost of the air bag and the cost of disposing of the slashed air bag.
A typical air bag, when deflated, is about 4 feet by 8 feet and a standard opening in a freight trailer is about 100inches high. Each air bag includes a valve at one corner of the bag having a valve head and a movable self-sealing valve stem. A typical air bag is supplied from Shipper Paper Products, an ITW Company, of 1203 North Main Street, P.O. Box 69, Mount Pleasant, Tenn. 38374.
An object of the present invention is to develop hand tools for deflating and inflating air bags used for stabilizing and protecting loads in freight trailers. Such hand tools will allow for the reuse of air bags minimizing costs.
The prior art has developed a wide variety of specialized tools for actuating valves. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,660,745; 4,124,148; and 3,506,159 all disclose valve actuators adapted for actuating a nozzle on an aerosol can or the like. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,499,796 to Miller and 1,326,858 to Glasscock also disclose tools for specialized valve workpieces. Specifically, the Glasscock patent discloses a tool for removing valves from combustion engines and the Miller patent discloses a tool for opening a check valve positioned at the end of a hydraulic hose.
The highly specialized tools of the prior art are not particularly adapted for use with a valve on an air bag. The object of the present invention is to overcome the drawbacks of the aforementioned prior art. It is an object of the present invention to provide hand tools for quickly and easily deflating and inflating air bags for stabilizing and protecting loads in freight trailers. It is a further object of the present invention to provide hand tools which are easily positioned in an operative position on the valve of an air bag and maintain the operative position of the hand tool without user assistance.